Post by Rog on Mar 27, 2015 14:14:21 GMT -5
One of the candidates for the NFL's greatest game is the Snow Bowl or whatever they call it between the Raiders and Patriots. You know, the Tuck Rule game.
Watching the key parts of that game today I realized how lucky Tom Brady was to win one of his Super Bowls, which he went on to after beating Oakland. Despite what Allen used to tell us, the fumble/incomplete pass play was called correctly. But the rule was awful. Although his arm had moved forward, Brady was no longer attempting to throw the ball. But since he hadn't completely tucked it back in, it was ruled an incomplete pass, allowing the Patriots to win a game the Raiders would have had sewn up.
That game got me thinking about the similarities between that game and the Packers' collapse against the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game this past season. From a quarterback's perspective, here are the key similarities I saw:
. One fluky play determined the outcome of the game. The tuck play in the New England/Raiders game and the fumbled onside kick in the Seahawks/Packers game.
. Both games were for the conference championship.
. Both quarterbacks had to lead a last minute drive for a field goal to tie the game. The Patriots had trailed most of the game, while the Packers had led almost all of the contest.
. The team that won the overtime coin flip won each of the games.
This got me to thinking how important winning a World Championship should be when evaluating a player. The breaks went Brady's way, and he wound up winning his first Super Bowl Championship. The breaks went against Rodgers, and he didn't get the chance to win his second Super Bowl while preventing Brady's record fourth.
Let's suppose those two games had gone in the opposite direction, something that both quarterbacks needed a lot of help in determining. Brady wouldn't have had a chance to win his first Super Bowl, meaning he would have entered this year's Super Bowl with two. Rodgers would have been vying to tie that with his second Super Bowl win.
While it's really hard to say which quarterback will be better when their careers are over, Brady enjoys one clear advantage. He has four Super Bowl wins compared to just one for Rodgers. Not even close.
But if not for those two strange games, they could be tied. It is almost certain that had those two fluky plays gone the other direction, the winner of each game would have been the team that lost instead.
They say baseball is a funny game. Football can be too.
Watching the key parts of that game today I realized how lucky Tom Brady was to win one of his Super Bowls, which he went on to after beating Oakland. Despite what Allen used to tell us, the fumble/incomplete pass play was called correctly. But the rule was awful. Although his arm had moved forward, Brady was no longer attempting to throw the ball. But since he hadn't completely tucked it back in, it was ruled an incomplete pass, allowing the Patriots to win a game the Raiders would have had sewn up.
That game got me thinking about the similarities between that game and the Packers' collapse against the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game this past season. From a quarterback's perspective, here are the key similarities I saw:
. One fluky play determined the outcome of the game. The tuck play in the New England/Raiders game and the fumbled onside kick in the Seahawks/Packers game.
. Both games were for the conference championship.
. Both quarterbacks had to lead a last minute drive for a field goal to tie the game. The Patriots had trailed most of the game, while the Packers had led almost all of the contest.
. The team that won the overtime coin flip won each of the games.
This got me to thinking how important winning a World Championship should be when evaluating a player. The breaks went Brady's way, and he wound up winning his first Super Bowl Championship. The breaks went against Rodgers, and he didn't get the chance to win his second Super Bowl while preventing Brady's record fourth.
Let's suppose those two games had gone in the opposite direction, something that both quarterbacks needed a lot of help in determining. Brady wouldn't have had a chance to win his first Super Bowl, meaning he would have entered this year's Super Bowl with two. Rodgers would have been vying to tie that with his second Super Bowl win.
While it's really hard to say which quarterback will be better when their careers are over, Brady enjoys one clear advantage. He has four Super Bowl wins compared to just one for Rodgers. Not even close.
But if not for those two strange games, they could be tied. It is almost certain that had those two fluky plays gone the other direction, the winner of each game would have been the team that lost instead.
They say baseball is a funny game. Football can be too.
